AQUATICS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11231, 28 November 1899, Page 3

AQUATICS.

I THE NEW YACHT BONA. ! The 36-footcr, which has beon designed and built by C. Bailey, juii., to the order of Mr. John Chim.ery, of Sydney, was launched yes- I t-erday and shipped on board the s.s. Elinga- i mite, for Sydney, in the evening. Tiie yacht, I a description of which lias already appeared j in the Herald, lias a very handsome and . powerful appearance, and should be remark- i ably fast. All the spars and gear of the yacht went with her, so that there will be no 1 delay in getting her into commission when i she reaches Sydney. Mr. C. Bailey, jun., i left with the yacht, and her performances at j Port Jackson will be watched with keen in- ' terest by local yachtsmen. SYDNEY YACHTING. The second race of the season of the Royal! Sydney Yacht Squadron, took place 011 the 18th inst., tiie course being about 17 miles. Tho yachts entered, with their respective time allowances, were ; White Wings, scratch : Isea, 11m. ; Meteor, 17m. ; Aoma, 17m. ; Actsea, 21m. ; Fairlie, 32m. Handicaps were conceded at the start, hence Fair- j lie was first despatched, the rest of tho fleet j following as their respective times elapsed. The wind was light to moderate from about tho west, with occasional squalls, and the tide slack as the first craft crossed the line. Tiie breeze being well aft, topsails were in evidence, excepting Aoma, and balloon canvas was carried over the first portion of tho course. Tho chief interest was centred in Meteor and Aoma, which got away well together. Meteor had slightly the best i.I it as far as the Manly buoy, where nine seconds only separated them, Prior to this a couple of luffing matches ensued between the pair. White Wings reduced Isea's lead somewhat before' reaching tho rounding mark, where tho times wore : Fairlie, 3h. 18m. <lSs. ; Acta, 3h. 24rn. 275. ; Meteor. 3h. 27m. 34?.: Aoma, 3h. 27m. 435. ; Isea, 31). 32m. 10s.; and White Wings, 3h. 41m. 30s. On the reach back to Shark Island Acta carried her fore-and-aft kites, and was at times well into her hatches in some of the puffs. Her jibtopsail came to grief when crossing the Heads, but a smaller one was smartly set, and good pace was made to the island, where she had reduced Fuirlie's lead considerably. Meteor shook her rival off before hauling a wind at the buoy, where the times were : Fairlie, 3h. 55m. 4«. ; Acta, 3h. 56m. 19s. ; Meteor, 4h. om. 565. ; Aoma, 4h. lm. 18s. ; Isea, 4h. 3m. 14s. ; and White Wings, 4h. 11m. 495. Resting up to Fort Denison both Isea and White Wings did bettor : Meteor also left Aoma slightly, and passed Fairlie, Acta doing likewise. The Fori was rounded as follows : Actjea, 4h. 25m. 375. ; Meteor, 4h. 28m. 38s. ; Fairlie, 41i. 29m. 375. ; Aoma, 4h. 29m. 40s. ; Isea, 4h. 30m. 13s. ; White Wings following, 4h. 34m. 445. On the way to the pilelight Fairlie fell back into filth place, Isea also dropped White Wings, otherwise tho positions remained unaltered, tho order being similar as they passed the buoy at the southern end of Shark Island. From there to the finish a few hard puffs were met with. Acta still held her own. White 'Wings closed the gap on the rest or the fleet while on the wind, passing fir-t Fairlie, then Aoma, before reaching the floghoat, which was passed as follows : Acta, sh. 27m. 15s. ; Meteor, sh. 29m. 455. : Isea, sh. 31m. 40s. ; White Wings, sh. 32m. 16;. ; Aoma, sh. 33m. 17s. ; Fairlie, sh. 33m. 555. Thus Acta wins the first prize, beating Meteor by 2in. 305., which, in turn secures second prize with lm. 555. to snare from Isea, the latter defeating While Wings for third place by 365., Aoma and Fairlie being) fifth and sixth respectively. The yachts were sailed by their owners. The Sydney Flying Squadron's general handicap rare was sailed 011 the 18th inst., and was the means of attracting a good crowd to Clark Island, where the events started and finished. Tho race consisted of two heats and a final over the triangular course, the boats rounding Shark Island first. The result was a win for the rater Laurel, sailed by her owner. Mr. A. W. Crane, with Mr. Mark Foy's Southern Cross a good second. The first heat rosulted as follows:—Effie, 4h. 2£m. 45".; Keriki, 4h. 26m. 455.; Plover, 4h. 27m. 565. Second heat; Laurel, rater, 2m. £2, 1; Southern Cross, 24ft, l|m., 2. Other ontrios:— Australian, 3m.: and Donnelly, 31 m. Australian did not start. Donnelly was disqualified for fouling tiie starter's boat, and did not sail the course, which left Laurel and Southern Cross to fight it out. Laurel was never caught, and at the finish had lm. 4s. to spare from Mr. Foy's boat. Final: Laurel, 2m.. £4, 1: Southern Cross, 2m., £2, 2. Tho other starters were:—' and Keriki, scratch. With the exception of Southern Cross, the boats set liallooners square for tho run to the island, where enrol had increased her lead, and Keriki rounded a little ahead of Effie. On the reach to the Taylor Bay mark Effie overtook Keriki, but the latter, by lulling, prevented her opponent pass ing. Rounding the Taylor Bay mark Southern Cross had drawn up a little on Laurel, and Keriki was only ss. ahead of Effie. Southern Cross was very close to tho leader at Bradley's, and a good race between tho two ensued to the finish, the rater getting home first. The times taken were: Laurel, s_h. 11m. 205.: Southern Cross, sh. 12m. 55.; Keriki, sh. 13m. 16s. ; and Efiie, sh. 13m. 575.